


Overboard

by poetroe



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Crack Treated Seriously, F/F, Fluff, Hero Worship, Radioactive Waste, claudia is stupidly in love, moron/moronsexual dynamic, villain AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-15
Updated: 2019-06-15
Packaged: 2020-05-12 07:46:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19224769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poetroe/pseuds/poetroe
Summary: Modern/Villain AU. Claudia has a crush on the hero that saved her and ends up going a little overboard with trying to get her attention a second time.





	Overboard

**Author's Note:**

> I saw the prompt 'villain AU: I have a crush on this superhero so I became a villain to get them to notice me' and then when I sat down to write a paper this came out. It's short, sweet and cracky, I hope they're not too OOC and I really hope I'm as funny as I think I am. Shout out to all my raydia warriors, this one is for u xx

There’s really nothing like the bad decision Claudia is making right now. Or actually, the series of bad decisions she’s been making over the past couple of weeks. Now there’s an AK-47 in her lap, a vial with some sort of virus in her hand and a slice of pepperoni pizza in her other, and as Claudia takes another bite it strikes her how crazy her life has become.

It all started so innocently. Rayla is a something of a local celebrity, a superhero in her own right, that goes around helping the police and exposing white and blue collar criminals alike, all in service of the city she’s sworn to protect. Claudia has seen her more times than she can remember. Looking all heroic with her swishing white braids, her shining dual swords and the defined muscles of her upper arms that are shown so nicely by her sleeveless shirt, even on Claudia’s crappy tv. Then there was that one other time, in the alley near the laundromat that serves as her shortcut back to the apartment, when Rayla had turned up out of the blue and saved both her life and her freshly cleaned clothing.

Seeing the hero in the flesh, it just… awakened something in Claudia. And she knows everyone in this city agrees that Rayla is hot, so can she really be blamed for that first time, when she pulled the fire alarm in her building and prayed the hero would show up? Or that second time, when she called in a bomb threat and sat outside the subway station, watching as Rayla delivered an empty backpack to the waiting police force?

Admittedly, she may have gone a bit overboard after that, Claudia thinks with a grimace as she takes another bite of pizza. There’s a difference between armed robbery and an illegal phone call, after all. It’s a shame the police showed up and she had to make a run for it with the money before Rayla could arrive on the scene. After that, Claudia had a real streak of bad luck; there just never seemed to be enough time to both do something criminal _and_ wait for her favorite hero to show up. The bank robbery she planned went south after the color dyes exploded all over the cute dress she’d picked out that night, the terrifying killer clowns Claudia arranged quit at the last moment and the mayor told her Rayla was out of town that day when she kidnapped him.

But there’s no way Rayla’s going to miss her tonight. The automatic rifle, the mysterious green liquid and the pizza are all stolen property, and at least two of the three are lethal. Three, if the pizza place’s mediocre Yelp rating is anything to go by. And right now Claudia is at the water treatment plant that acts as the city’s main water source, ready to throw in the virus or the pizza or both, and ready to gun down anyone who doesn’t have hair like the first snowfall of winter, the cutest nose in the world or the most beautiful violet eyes Claudia has ever seen.

It’s been about half an hour since she made the threat on the biggest news network in the area when the heavy metal door to the main room in the plant slams open.

“Drop the vial,” Rayla says as she stands before Claudia in her full glory, the intricate braids in her hair capturing Claudia’s attention so intensely now that she’s finally able to see them up close, that she almost forgets to deliver her witty retort.

“Drop it?” she asks, dangling the vial above where she’s removed one of the grates. Below, the water rushes through the pipe vigorously. Claudia smirks as she looks Rayla in her beautiful purple eyes and wiggles with her eyebrows. “If you insist.” With a shrug, she lets go.

The way Rayla grits her teeth is nothing short of a work of art as she dashes forward and jumps, her arms stretched forward, catching the vial and the suspicious swishing liquid in it just before it can disappear into the rushing water forever.

“Are you out of your mind?” the hero grunts as she pockets the vial and pins Claudia against the wall with her arm against her throat, all in one movement. “Do you even know how dangerous this is?” Claudia feels a blush rise to her cheeks, but she can’t tell if it’s from being caught or how close Rayla is, basically pressing up against her with her entire body. With a splat, the slice of pizza she’d been holding falls on the ground.

“Uh, not exactly,” Claudia admits sheepishly. “I just broke into the most secured scientific facility in the city and stole the scariest-looking vial.” She meets Rayla’s eyes and god, that’s a mistake. Claudia feels like they’re on a ship in a heavy storm and she just got knocked overboard. “Why, what does it do?” she finishes shakily.

Rayla heaves a sigh, exasperated like she’s talking to a child, and says: “This is highly radioactive plutonium waste, that would’ve given everyone in this city radiation sickness and would’ve made the entire tri-state area uninhabitable for centuries.” Claudia swallows once.

“Oh.” Then something occurs to her. “Wait, does that mean it’s dangerous to touch, too?” Rayla scoffs.

“Yeah, dummy. Radiation works like light. It goes right through glass,” she says. Her grip on Claudia has loosened just the slightest bit and Claudia, fast and nimble as she can be, ducks under the arm that’s holding her to snatch the vial out of Rayla’s pocket and split.

“I have to get this out of here,” she mutters as she takes off in a sprint towards the doorway, glancing at the green liquid as she does. But Rayla is quicker, and slams the metal door shut before Claudia can get away—but not before she can run face-first into it.

“You’re not going anywhere until the police get here,” the hero says, steadfast.

“No, but—I have to—this could _kill_ you!” Claudia sputters as she rubs over her forehead, almost pushing the radioactive waste in Rayla’s face to make her point but quickly backing away once she realizes that no, this vial can’t be anywhere near this beautiful woman.

Of course, Rayla has to step closer. “Give it to me,” she says calmly. “Before you hurt yourself.”

“ _No_. There is no way in hell I’m giving you radiation poisoning,” Claudia retorts. “Either let me go or leave yourself, but I love you and I’m not going to be responsible for hurting you.” The words ache as they leave her mouth, especially following all the trouble she has gone through to get here, and see the hero in person. But Rayla’s health is something she just can’t risk.

“What do you mean, you ‘love me’?” Rayla says. Claudia drags her eyes up to meet those vibrant purple ones and relaxes slightly at what she sees there. There is no rejection, no disgust—only an honest sort of confusion. It’s understandable, Claudia muses. This is only their second time meeting, after all. She sighs in the face of the awkward explanation she’s going to have to give.

“Do you remember saving a girl with a bag full of black clothes in an alley near a laundromat, a month ago?” The pout that appears on Rayla’s face as she thinks has Claudia swooning, but she forces herself to keep a straight face.

“I’m not sure,” Rayla says. “I save a lot of people in alleys. Were you the one who fainted when you saw me?” Claudia grimaces.

“…yes.” A grin spreads over Rayla’s features at the admission. “And I’m sure you get this all the time,” Claudia continues, “but you’re like _really_ cute, and strong, and from there it just kind of… happened.”

“You fell in love with me,” Rayla reiterates. Her arms are crossed and one of her perfect eyebrows is lifted slightly in disbelief.

“This can’t be a first for you,” Claudia responds, fiddling with the vial as she looks at the hero. “I refuse to believe that.”

“And this…” Rayla continues as she glances around the room, before ending at the green liquid in the vial. “…was just to, what, make me like you back? Like how pulling on pigtails is a gesture of affection in kindergarten?” Claudia grimaces a little at the comparison.

“I just wanted to meet you,” she mutters. “But the police kept getting there first, so I just kept going bigger and bigger until you would turn up to stop me, yourself.” Claudia pauses before shooting the hero a daring grin. “I bet you would look great in pigtails, though.” Rayla snorts at that, causing a flurry of feelings to rush through Claudia’s chest.

“I can’t believe a villain is actually flirting with me,” she mumbles. If she wasn’t blushing already, she certainly is now, Claudia thinks as she feels the heat rush to her cheeks. Still, she frowns; because she takes offense to being called a villain, for one, and maybe also because she wants to distract Rayla from seeing her as the stuttering, lovesick mess she is.

“That’s an affront to both me and villains everywhere,” Claudia says as she crosses her arms, mirroring the hero. “I haven’t actually killed anyone.”

“You were literally about to kill thousands,” Rayla deadpans. “And let’s not forget that you robbed multiple small businesses, a bank, and kidnapped the _mayor_. Sounds pretty diabolical to me.”

“Okay, so I haven’t actually killed anyone _knowingly_ ,” Claudia responds as she rolls her eyes. “And kidnapping Harrow doesn’t count; I let him go the second he told me you were out of town.” Rayla snorts at that, a laugh that’s somewhere between amazement and disbelief.

“You’re crazy.” The assessment makes Claudia pout.

“Like you’ve never had a crush.”

“At least I’ve never turned into a criminal to get their attention,” Rayla counters.

“Look, I’m only human,” Claudia sighs. She’s becoming bored with this conversation; meeting Rayla should’ve been glorious, they should’ve instantly connected over their shared love for Rayla—Claudia can only assume someone as perfect as the hero would be filled head to toe with selflove—but instead, she’s bickering with the person she loves most in the world and she’s still holding a vial of radioactive waste that could potentially kill them both. “Let me at least return this to the lab. I want to kiss you, not kill you.” The main room in the plant isn’t well-lit by any means, but the blush on Rayla’s face is unmistakable.

“Okay, look; Claudia—that’s your name, right?” Rayla starts. Claudia just nods. “Claudia, you seem nice enough. But I’m really going to have to bring you in. Your crush on me doesn’t justify stealing and possession of weapons of mass destruction.”

 “So I’ll go return the money and the gun after I return this,” Claudia says as she jiggles the vial in the air. “No biggie. Whatever you need me to do. Maybe we could go for dinner after.” Rayla sighs, but a small smile tugs at her lips.

“It would be a start,” she says, before snorting. “God, this is the weirdest day of my life. I thought this was going to end in a long and drawn-out fight.”

“I mean, if that’s something you want,” Claudia mutters as she runs a hand through her hair, considering. “Though I’d have a bit of an unfair advantage with the gun.” The AK-47 which, right now, lay discarded on the floor, next to the pipe Claudia had been sitting on when Rayla had come in.

“That’s okay,” Rayla says with a grin. “It’s cute how you think you would win, even with an automatic rifle.”

“Look, I might have only been in this game for a month or so,” Claudia says with a challenging smirk as she steps closer to the hero, momentarily forgetting the radioactive threat she’s still holding and pressing her index finger against Rayla’s chest. “That doesn’t mean I don’t know how to hold my own in a fight.”

“Right,” Rayla hums as she meets Claudia’s gaze, and doesn’t back down. There’s something charging the air between them and it’s either this radioactive stuff or it’s something that ignites feelings of hope within her chest that Claudia doesn’t want to think about, just yet.

“So,” Claudia mumbles, drawing out the word. Being close to Rayla makes her feel weightless, and she’s afraid if her finger stops touching the soft fabric of Rayla’s shirt, she might drift up through the ceiling and never come back. “All my cards are out in the open. Ball’s in your court. Where do we go from here?”

Rayla stays silent for a long time and Claudia can almost hear the wheels turning in her head as she looks Claudia up and down. “Obviously,” she starts, hesitantly, “and I’ll fight you if you tell anyone this, but obviously, I’m not the only ‘cute’ one between us.” There’s a blush on her cheeks that makes Claudia all but melt inside, especially when Rayla grabs the finger pressing against her chest, and tangles their hands together. “And I think that, maybe… had we met in a different way, we could really have hit it off.” Claudia feels her eyes grow wide at the words, and her breath catches. All the while, the featherlight feeling in her chest just keeps growing, and growing, and growing.

“Are you serious?” she whispers, like this is a dream that will burst like a soap bubble if she speaks too loudly. Rayla smirks at her, and it’s surprisingly kind.

“Yeah. You’re a little unhinged, obviously—” Claudia rolls her eyes, but the grin on her face is spreading and not likely to go anywhere, soon. “—but that’s not a bad thing,” Rayla says. “It seems to me like you’ve just been a little misguided up until this point.”

“Right,” Claudia says, glancing down at the vial. “I swear I’ll return this right away. Baby steps, you know?” Rayla smiles. She squeezes Claudia’s hand amicably and starts pulling her towards the metal door of the room.

“Right. Then you can take me out after, and we’ll see if you can convince me not to turn you in to the police after all.” Claudia grins and lifts an eyebrow at the hero.

“Ooh, what’s this?” she hums. “Questionable morality from our beloved hero?” Rayla snorts again, and Claudia thinks she never wants to hear another sound.

“And villain who turns out to be a complete softy,” Rayla says. “We make quite a pair, huh?” Claudia grins.

“Imagine us together,” she responds. “The people in this city won’t know what hit them.”

**Author's Note:**

> If u enjoyed this u might like the Serious raydia fic I wrote a while back, Halcyon Days (pro tip: it's abt 7x the size of this one and they kiss a bunch of times there uwu)


End file.
